(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for supporting an idle mode of a terminal in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system.
(b) Description of the Related Art
The advancement of information communication technology has been prompting development of various wireless communication techniques. Among the various wireless communication techniques, a wireless local area network (WLAN) is a technique allowing users to wirelessly access the Internet at homes or in offices, or in a particular service providing area, with a terminal based on a radio frequency technique.
A WLAN system includes a plurality of basic service sets (BSSs), and each BSS includes an access point (AP) and a plurality of terminals. Communication within a BSS is made through an AP, and a terminal is connected to the access node in order to access a network.
Meanwhile, in a general mobile communication field, when there is no call, the terminal operates in an idle mode. When the terminal operates in the idle mode, procedures other than signaling for checking an arrival of a call are minimized to reduce power consumption.
In this case, however, there is no definition for the idle mode of the terminal in the WLAN system. Thus, when the terminal moves in a state in which there is no call in the WLAN system, there is no way to track the location of the terminal while saving power of the terminal.